PIERCER Shinelle “Nelle” Bethalmy has spent a lot of time honing her craft, and it has paid off.
Bethalmy received a scholarship to attend the Annual Association of Professional Piercers five-day conference in Las Vegas from June 23-28, where she met and interacted with some of the top piercers and tattoo artistes from around the world.
“It was amazing. The international community was very welcoming and there was a lot of sharing of information and discussing of techniques. The networking was one of the primary benefits – something I think is necessary in the industry.”
As a member of the piercing group The Real Piercer Babes, Bethalmy was selected by the group to attend the conference because of her dedication to her craft. The group has over 2,000 members from around the world. It's Facebook pages says it is "A safe place for women, nonbinary, gay, lesbian and trans people in the body modification industry to discuss industry-related things, critiques but educationally focused."
“The conference is industry-based, so you need to be a part of the body piercing industry in order to attend. But that could mean you work at the front counter, selling jewellery, or any aspect in the studio. It’s an annual event, now in its 27th year.”
She said she was part of sessions that were dealt with human anatomy, technique, jewellery, do’s and don’t’s of piercing and tattoos, and even some business classes.
“We got tips on how to run a business, HR-related things, and also some history lessons and exhibits which delved into the history of body piercing and the popularising of it.”
Bethalmy started body piercing in 2017, and in 2020, she left her full-time export sales job to do piercing full time.
[caption id="attachment_1097479" align="aligncenter" width="439"] Shinelle Bethalmy says once a piercing is done professionally by someone who knows what they’re doing, with the correct tools and equipment, it can be done quite quickly with minimal pain. -[/caption]
“I opened my own small studio in Valencia, then I moved on to a larger studio in Movie Towne where there is more traffic.”
But before making that bold move, she made sure she was trained.
“I had my physical apprenticeship for months and was shown techniques and the different physical things that need to happen. I also immersed myself in the theory by reading about it and watching educational videos.”
She has also taken a number of classes in first aid and has blood-borne pathogens certification.
“All of these are necessary because it’s very easy to make a mistake. I continue to learn, and for the past three years I’ve done an abbreviated form of the conference. After the conference, the organisers select a few classes and make them into an online package for people who are interested.”
Generally, she said, piercing and tattoos go hand in hand. But even though she is a trained tattoo artist, she prefers to stick to piercing.
“They both fall under the body modification realm, but I am just a piercer. I spent my time perfecting this and bringing
